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What You Need to Know About Resist Marxism’s Presence at the 2018 Boston Women’s March

The Cambridge/Boston Women’s March organizers describe Saturday’s rally as “an occasion to recognize the resistance efforts undertaken thus far, and to further mobilize our collective energies for the year ahead.”

Unfortunately, the alt-right group Resist Marxism has taken the rally’s statement that “all are welcome” as an invitation to promote their racist organization and spread xenophobia and Islamophobia under the auspices of “women’s rights.”

Resist Marxism, which claims to “Defend the Constitution against violent extremists and the Regressive Left,” was a leading organization behind the so-called “Rally for the Republic” in November, alongside militias such as the Three Percenters and the Oath Keepers. These groups have lengthy track records of racist, anti-Semitic, misogynistic and xenophobic activities. Their violent ideals do not belong at a peaceful women’s march for equality and resistance.

Speakers

Resist Marxism’s plan for the Women’s Solidarity March is simply to show up with megaphones and their own battery of prepared speakers in an attempt to drown out other voices of resistance. They are not affiliated with the event organizers and have simply decided to crash the march for the purpose of distracting, disrupting and recruiting. And their speakers are, at best, unqualified.

Ylva MorriganYlva Morrigan will be speaking against abortion rights. Morrigan’s public Facebook page contains disturbing rants detailing how “Christians are under attack” and warning of a “Sharia takeover” of America. At a time when the right to safe, legal abortion and Muslims’ freedom of religion are truly under attack, this rhetoric represents a dangerous targeting of vulnerable women and communities.

Samson RacioppiSamson Racioppi, who was previously arrested for violent “reckless conduct” and has a history of violent and xenophobic behavior, is set to speak on women in Islam. The lives and experiences of Muslim women are not things to be ogled or treated as props in the service of a political group with both sexist and Islamophobic platforms. Further, a male, non-Muslim with a known history of violence should not speak for women who face extreme threats, including from unpredictable men like Racioppi.

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Lily MarsdenLily Marsden, a 19 year old newcomer to the far-right scene, is a self-proclaimed libertarian and anarcho-capitalist (two ideologies which provide an entry to fascism) and who has already adopted some of the alt-right’s distinctive rhetoric online. She will be speaking on “Third Wave Feminism issues.” While third wave feminism is most notable for its emphasis on an intersectional approach, one which takes into account the multidimensional ways in which women are oppressed, the alt-right has doubled down on the movement, claiming it is built on factual and logical inaccuracies. Third wave feminism seeks to include all women, yet the alt-right and their ideology around feminism and women in general seeks to include only women who are deemed socially acceptable.

Michael Moura

Moura (left) posing with Kyle Chapman at the Mother of All [Trump] Rallies

Michael Moura is young, but already a regular at far-right nationalist events. Notably, he is a supporter of Kyle Chapman and met with him at the “Mother of All Rallies” in Washington, D.C., (in violation of the terms of Chapman’s bail) last September. That event was promoted by and featured Patriot Prayer’s Joey Gibson, a man who has refused to make any effort to prevent explicit white nationalists from attending his events on the West Coast. Due to Moura’s association with individuals like Chapman and Gibson who espouse dangerous white supremacist ideals and endorse violence, we are concerned that Moura will use this platform to encourage violence against immigrants and other women.

Resist Marxism is blatantly taking advantage of the “all are welcome” approach of the Women’s March in an attempt to establish an ideological foothold for their hateful ideals.

We reject Resist Marxism’s cynical attempt to co-opt the feminist movement in search of an entry point for spreading their bigoted and dangerous rhetoric.

If the organizers and participants of this march truly stand by their commitment to “basic human rights for all individuals, regardless of gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, race, age, religion, nationality, immigration status, disability, economic status, geographical residence, health status, culture, and political affiliation,” we expect them to:

Unite against Resist Marxism’s message of hate

Deny Resist Marxism and their hateful ideology any platform by which they may disseminate their propaganda.

Resist Marxism and their supporters will meet on Saturday at 12PM in Cambridge at the John Harvard statue before heading to the common. We encourage everyone to show up to confront them and reject their message, and make it clear that they are not welcome in any activist spaces around here.